Alas, Captain, We Hardly Knew Ye

AllahPundit catches a very likely shift by the Associated Press. They will no longer quote unauthorized spokesmen - they will simply call them anonymous sources! Problem solved in the AP's eyes!

We’ve got an AP article about an attack in Baghdad written by Qais al-Bashir quoting a police source. The stage is set for a cameo from our favorite Iraqi officer.

But what’s this?

On Sunday morning, clashes erupted between Sunni and Shiite militants in Baghdad’s mixed western Amil district, a policeman said. One Shiite militiaman was killed and six people five Sunnis and one Shiite were wounded, the officer said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Could the mystery source be the one and only Capt. Jamil? According to the e-mail from Centcom to Flopping Aces that started all this, no one below the rank of chief is authorized by Iraq’s MOI to comment on police matters. Sounds like the AP is going to start following that policy, not by changing its sources but by no longer printing their names. Which, conveniently, will spare them a lot of grief from the blogosphere. From here on out, no names.

Look - if the incident happened, then honest reporting is not a problem. What is a problem is that the whole six burning Sunnis story appears to have been completely made up and the AP will not admit, correct or even investigate. That is a real problem and they are very deserving of all the abuse that can be piled on to them right now.

I have an anonymous source that says the AP produces fraudulent stories. Is my statement more credible than the AP's defense? Just asking.